Beyond The Dawn - A Twilight Fan Fiction

Book 1 - Bella - Chapter Three

Nessie challenged his gaze, and I looked away to smile. "I'm not asking to go visit with Tanya, I just want to go to the reservation! I'll be close by, and maybe Alice can clear her head a little bit more. Dad, you can't stop me."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I can't? You're just like your mother, do you know that?"

Nessie straightened her back, but smiled and put a hand on his arm. Whatever she showed him, he smiled instantly. He ended up moving away from her with a laugh. He turned to me with an amused grin.

"Your daughter seems to think I'll be comforted by the thought of her and Jacob having puppies," he smirked.

I laughed a little. "Where does she get her sick sense of humor?"

Emmett laughed and called from upstairs, "That would be me!"

Carlisle entered the living room through the dining room. His expression hardened when he saw Alice under the tree.

"She's been out there for days," he stated, his voice dark, "I'm worried about her."

"Do you think it's possible that her gift is...disappearing," I asked carefully. Jasper's head shot up, he looked agonized.

"Carlisle, do you think that's what it is?" Jasper asked, his voice dripping with concern for the woman he loved.

Carlisle answered thoughtfully, "I don't believe that's what it is. Aro has had his gift for centuries. If Aro's talent disappeared tomorrow, Alice would still have a very long way to go before even beginning to fit any sort of standard."

I nodded, knowing that if anyone had the final word in this house, it was Carlisle. Jasper stared out at Alice, standing up and walking to the window, simply because it was the only way he could be closer to her.

"I wish I could help," he spoke sadly.

"I wish I could too, son," Carlisle replied in agreement, "But we have to give her room to think clearly."

I watched Alice rock back and forth beneath the tree, as I gazed out of the window around Jasper's slight but muscular form. It broke my heart to see my sister in such agony; her body remained tensed and perfectly still as she fought to bring more distinction to what she was seeing. What made the situation worse was that what she was seeing directly involved those who would pose the greatest threat to our family, if their anger were so aroused. There was nothing any of us could do other than wait, and hope that Alice would find clarity. In the middle of our vigil, several things happened at once: Alice's eyes shot open, Edward gasped...and she screamed.

We all moved to rush toward Alice. Rosalie and Emmett shot down the stairs, and Esme emerged from the kitchen with a panicked look on her face. Edward had beaten us all to the door, holding his arms out.

"Let Jasper go," he growled, stepping aside only to let Jasper out of the house.

"What's happening, Edward," Esme asked as I watched my husband with an uneasy look.

Edward ran a hand through his tousled bronze hair. He looked more concerned than I'd seen him in a very long time. "Something's wrong. Alice can't see us anymore."

The response was simultaneous. "What?"

I strained to capture a distant memory from my human years, back when Edward had left me, supposedly for my own good. Recall came better this time, perhaps because of the severity of the situation: the last time someone had blurred out of Alice's vision was when I jumped off of the cliff, and it was because she believed me to be dead. And when I blurred out of Alice's vision when I first became pregnant with Renesmee, it was because based on tradition, I had been destined to die giving birth to her.